Rep Hansen Clarke's Call for Loan Forgiveness
AEM a few days ago announced Rep Hansen Clarke's call to forgive student loan debt. Obviously, it's an admirable thing to do on the floor, and I am in the midst of setting up talks with his office. However, I think it is important to keep in mind that, unfortunately, Clarke is not on any committees that could sway his colleagues to push legislation to forgive student loans (for instance, he is not on the Education & Workforce Committee - one that could have considerable influence on such matters, but has, sadly, been bought and sold by the industry). As much as we would all love that, it is not realistic. Perhaps at one point there was a possibility, but it has passed. With austerity measures being pushed by both parties, the notion of loan forgiveness is simply out of the question, and anyone who has any sense of how the market works and how the student lending industry and
